An 11-year-old girl would have died as a result of her mother’s exorcism had a stranger not intervened, according to police in California. Kimberly Felder,45, was arrested, with police claiming she was attempting to ‘cleanse’ her daughter.

Witnesses at Centerville Beach in Ferndale claimed Felder stripped, beat, bit and shoveled sand into the mouth and eyes of her daughter on Friday morning. According to a statement from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office, 10 to 12 people observed the young girl being abused before local John Marciel attempted to restrain Felder.

Marciel wrestled the mother to the ground, according to police, while she continued to hit her child with a piece of driftwood before police arrived to fully restrain her.

“If it were not for the intervention and heroic actions of John Marciel, it is very likely that the child would have been killed by Felder,” according to police.